Liverpool’s defensive injury crisis worsened on Monday evening but Jurgen Klopp still has no intention to delve into the transfer market this month.
Just five minutes of the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Wolves at Molineux had elapsed when Dejan Lovren was forced to leave the field as a result of a hamstring injury.
In hobbling off in Wolverhampton, the Croatian joined Joe Gomez and Joel Matip on the sidelines, leaving Virgil van Dijk as Klopp’s only fit senior centre-back as things stand.
When asked after the game whether that might prompt a transfer rethink, Klopp told talkSPORT: “The only country that asks a question like this is England.
“Everything is sorted with buying players. We have four centre-halves. Three, maybe, two-and-a-half are injured so we’ll have to try and come through in the moment.
“We need them back but you cannot buy a fifth centre-half and say, ‘So you play two weeks and after that the others come in’”.
Managers don’t always tell the truth when speaking to the media, of course, but in this case fans can accept Klopp’s comments on face value.
For starters, Matip is nearing the end of an absence enforced by the broken collarbone he sustained against Napoli in mid-December.
The former Cameroon international is expected to miss the weekend’s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, but should be in contention to face Crystal Palace seven days later having been able to keep up his fitness with non-contact training.
Gomez is expected to be sidelined for slightly longer as a result of the leg break he picked up during the come-from-behind win over Burnley last month.
However, the club’s medical staff hope to have the 21-year-old available for the start of February and perhaps even earlier dependent on his response to treatment.
And with Fabinho considered a genuine option at centre-half after his impressive showing at Wolves, Klopp is confident his team can cope in the meantime.
And so, unlike last year’s mid-season window, which saw the arrival of Van Dijk and departure of Philippe Coutinho, it is expected to be a quiet January at Anfield.
